29 May 2013

Way back in April we hosted a Couples Shower for Lane and Derek at our house. We invited the local Lambda Chis and their families. I did kind of a garden party, outdoorsy theme inspired by that baby wheelbarrow, which I used as the centerpiece on my kitchen island. I found several other vintage pieces and it was a great motivator to jump into spring decorating and planting. We ordered food from Ott's Pasta and cake pops from Celebrations by Sonja. I made a really good lemonade I found on Pinterest. We opened up the back patio and Ryan hung strings of globe lights for me, something I had been wanting out there for a long time. I potted little zinnias in some red metal watering cans I found at Target for favors, along with some floral notepads I found at Michael's. I embellished a burlap wrapped wreath for the front door and placed two giant ferns on either side. I'm not sure why I didn't take any pictures of the guests, not even the guests of honor! But Lane and Derek were showered with Lowe's gift cards from our friends the Rhoads, the Turners, the Swans, the Wises, the Allens, and Lindsay and Tyson. ﻿And us!

28 May 2013

My hubs turns 38 today...Lindsay and Tyson had us over for dinner last night to celebrate. Tonight we are meeting Ryan's parents and his brother Rob and wife Lauren at Little Tokyo on the north side of town. Macauley and I got him a few little treats. We love him so.

The night before Lane's wedding was also our unofficial anniversary--17 years since our first date. He took me to the mall and bought me a little sleeveless Esprit shirt that would maybe squeeze over one of my arms now but I still have in my cedar chest. I was 19. He was about to turn 21. A couple of kids...I'm so glad I got to grow up with him and I feel such comfort in knowing he is the one I will grow old with...

27 May 2013

I didn't take as many pictures of the venue and the decor (especially the upstairs reception space) as I would have liked, but you can see the overall look was earthy and natural with splashes of coral, yellow and green. The plants and natural feel seemed like a good fit for the venue and being that Derek is in the landscaping design business.

My favorite piece was the KC Love soda crate I found at a flea market in Billings. My parents grew up with the Love family in Muskogee, the city where Lindsay, Lane and I were born, and the names of several OK towns are stamped on one side. And how perfect that Lane and Derek's LOVE story, wedding and life is set in KC...I planted it out with several succulents and I hope they put it out on their back patio and remember their special day.

We did baby succulents in itty terracotta pots as favors, with a manila stamped thank you tag. Derek drew the tree they used as a guest book--guest stamped their thumbprints as "leaves" and signed their names. We also did a strip of kraft paper on the wall for guests to leave messages. I didn't get a picture of the mason jar table before it had been picked over, but the idea was for the guests to use a jar as a glass throughout the night and it seemed to work. The little red wagon belonged to my Great-Grandpa Fricks--we used it outside for guests to drop gifts before the ceremony then rolled it inside. I found the little baby wheelbarrow in Billings, too, and have been using it as a centerpiece at my house. It worked great for collecting cards on the entry table and several people threatened to kidnap it. Too cute. I didn't get a picture of the adorable fairy garden Lane designed and planted that was set up near the buffet line.

Up the stairs was the big, open barn space, with brick walls and such a charming, industrial, modern yet old feel. So original and very Lane and Derek. We did tall glass vases filled with Arkansas river rock, willow branches, sunflowers, orchids and greenery. Kind of an organic and collaborative effort involving a number of people helping set up that day, including some of Ryan and Derek's fraternity brothers, which I think is sweet. Other tables had old crates and drawers turned upside down with a couple of potted succulents and votives in jelly jars. We found the pots on several TJMaxx and Marshall's stops a long, long time back, before we even really had a true plan for the decor. I like how they looked, and a few lucky people got to take one home at the end of the night.

I had a great time working on pulling all these pieces together and I hope Lane and Derek were pleased with how it all turned out.